The Drawbacks of Selling Your Own Home

Kalamazoo Real Estate Podcast with Scott Ashbaugh

It’s possible to sell your home on your own, but what should you know beforehand? Here are three things to be prepared for.

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Because the market in West Michigan is so hot right now, a lot of home sellers have been asking me whether it would be a good idea to sell their homes on their own. Can you sell your home on your own? Absolutely. But here are three things you should be prepared to do:

1. Prepare for a lot of online marketing. When we list a home, we upload that listing to approximately 1,100 different websites. Let me be clear: a posting on Craigslist and sticking a ‘for sale’ sign in front of your house will not generate enough traffic on your home. In this day and age, everybody is looking online and where they look can vary drastically. For this reason, you have to make sure that your home is listed online on a wide range of sites and that it’s presented in the best possible light.
2. Prepare to let strangers into your home. Should you let just anybody into your house? You have to determine whether these are qualified buyers who have been approved for a loan, or simply looky-loos with nothing better to do than visit your house. A lot of sellers who are working without agents have told us that many of the people who ask to look at their home have asked questions like, “Would you consider renting the property?” or, “Would you be interested in doing a lease option or land contract?” These are indications that these buyers have not gone through the process of getting a pre-qualified for a proper loan. A real estate agent will be sure to check the credentials of any buyer before they let them into your home.
3. Prepare for legal paperwork and negotiation. There is a lot of federal, state, and local documentation to take care of when selling a house. This is in addition to the proper title work that needs to be done and ensuring that all of the paperwork is properly filed at closing. It’s important to make sure that everything is disclosed and documented the right way so that in case the buyer has any problems after closing, you won’t be at any legal risk. It’s the job of a real estate agent to handle all of this so that you don’t have to.

Are you prepared to handle all of the legal paperwork on your own?

It's certainly possible to sell your home ‘for sale by owner’ but before you decide to do this, make sure you understand everything involved in a home sale transaction. Statistically, a real estate professional will be able to sell your home for more money in a quicker time frame while saving you all of the hassle in the process.
If you have any other questions about selling your home in the Kalamazoo area, don’t hesitate to reach out by phone or email. I’d be happy to help you!